Hwarang Youth Foundation Silicon Valley District, founded in 2018, consists of five chapters: Los Altos, Cupertino, San Jose, Saratoga, and Dublin, and four committees: Art, IT, Media, and Global Links. Every member of our district is dedicated to serving our community while forming tight connections with one another, strengthening our collective Korean-American identity, and we strive to continue this culture for many years to come.

Although we are still a relatively new district, we have accomplished much, hosting more than 300 volunteering events throughout the year. As a district, we host many events in partnership with the Santa Clara County, the Korean American Community Center in SF, and the Salvation Army, as well as the Vision Festival to fundraise for the Guatemala Eye Camp, and many more.

In addition to our District events, each chapter and committee hosts their own events as well, most notably Altos Chapter’s Homeless Services, Dublin Chapter’s Senior Center Volunteering, Cupertino Chapter’s City Team Food Distribution, San Jose Chapter’s Discovery Shop, Saratoga Chapter’s West Valley Volunteering, IT committee’s Scratch Coding Schools, Global Links’ Overseas Tutoring, Art Committee’s folk tales book, Media Committee’s PR videos, as well as our main SV district events every month.

Although such events may seem small or insignificant in the short term, they certainly leave lasting and beneficial impacts on our community in the long term by empowering our volunteers and inspiring others. As our motto goes, SV District is constantly “building people to become future leaders”. Through the welcoming atmosphere we create to provide opportunities for new volunteers, we always encourage our members to take on leadership roles within our district, whether it be through creating and leading new events or becoming an officer for a chapter or committee.

So far, our district has come a long way, and I cannot wait to see what we will come to accomplish in future years. Go Hwarang!